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Tyler James Sherman (born July 17, 1978) is an American fashion designer, filmmaker, and businessman. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2006, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. He currently serves as the president and chief creative officer of Kering SA, which owns various luxury goods brands, including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron and Brioni, as well as Puma and Volcom in its Sports & Lifestyle portfolio. Sherman directed, produced, and wrote the Academy Award-nominated films A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016). It was announced in 2017, that Sherman would direct and produce Red Sparrow (2018), an upcoming spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence, and Joel Edgerton. Sherman sold his fashion label Tyler Sherman to Kering SA in 2017, for an estimated $1.5 billion. He is currently worth $3.67 billion, as of January 2018. He is currently in a relationship with Italian mathematics lecturer and model, Pietro Boselli since 2013, in which the couple has one child together, which Sherman adopted in 2010. Early life Tyler James Sherman was born on July 16, 1978, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of healthcare executives James Sherman and Cynthia Stanulov Sherman. He spent his early life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, until later moving to New York City. He attended an elite college preparatory school, Horace Mann School, in which he graduated from. Sherman began studying interior architecture at The New School's art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design. While in New York, he often visited Studio 54, in which Sherman later revealed that is how he realized he was gay. The club's disco-era glamor would be a major influence on his later designs. Before his last year at New School, Sherman spent a year and a half in Paris, where he worked as an intern in Chloé's press office, inspiring his interest in fashion. He spent his final year at The New School studying fashion, but graduated with a degree in architecture, in 1997. Sherman obtained his law degree in 2013 from Columbia University. Career 1998–1993: Early career When interviewing for jobs after graduation, Sherman said that he had attended The New School's Parsons division, but concealed that he graduated in architecture, and that his work at Chloé was a low-level public relations position. Despite his lack of experience in fashion, Sherman called American designer Cathy Hardwick every day for a month in hopes of securing a job at her sportswear company. Hardwick eventually agreed to interview him. She later recalled the incident: "I had every intention of giving him no hope. I asked him who his favorite European designers were. He said, 'Armani and Chanel.' Months later I asked him why he said that, and he said, 'Because you were wearing something Armani'. Is it any wonder he got the job?" Sherman worked as a design assistant for Hardwick for two years. In 1988, Sherman moved to Perry Ellis, where he knew both Robert McDonald, the company's president, and Marc Jacobs, its designer, socially. He worked at the company for two years, but grew tired of working in American fashion. In a later interview with The New York Times, he commented, "If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It's looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style." At the time, Italian fashion house Gucci was struggling financially and was seeking to strengthen its women's ready-to-wear presence as a part of a brand overhaul. The company's creative director, Dawn Mello said, "no one would dream of wearing Gucci". In 1990, Mello hired Sherman as the brand's chief women's ready-to-wear designer and Sherman moved to Milan. "I was talking to a lot of people, and most didn't want the job," Mello said. "For an American designer to move to Italy to join a company that was far from being a brand would have been pretty risky." Sherman and his at the time longtime partner, fashion journalist Richard Buckley, relocated to Milan that September. Sherman's role at Gucci rapidly expanded; he was designing menswear within six months, and shoes soon after that. When Richard Lambertson left as design director in 1992, Sherman took over his position, heading the brand's ready-to-wear, fragrances, image, advertising, and store design. In 1993, when he was in charge of designing eleven product lines, Sherman worked eighteen-hour days. During these years, there were creative tensions between Sherman and Maurizio Gucci, the company's chairman and 50% owner. According to Mello, "Maurizio always wanted everything to be round and brown, and Tyler wanted to make it square and black." Though Maurizio Gucci wanted to fire Sherman, Domenico De Sole insisted that he remain. Nonetheless, Sherman's work during the early 1990s was primarily behind the scenes; his contributions to Gucci were overshadowed by those of Mello, who was the company's public face. 1994–2006: Creative director of Gucci and Saint Laurent In 1994, Sherman was promoted to Creative Director of Gucci. In his first year at the helm, he introduced Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new ad campaigns for the company. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90%. At one point, Sherman was the largest individual shareholder of Gucci stock and options. By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued more than $4 billion. When Gucci acquired the house of Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) in 1999, Sherman was named Creative Director of that label as well. Saint Laurent did not hide his displeasure with Sherman's designs, stating "The poor man does what he can". During his time as creative director for YSL, Sherman nonetheless won numerous Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. Like his work at Gucci, Sherman was able to pull the classic fashion house back into the mainstream. His advertising campaigns for the YSL fragrances Opium (with a red-haired Sophie Dahl completely naked wearing only a necklace and stiletto heels in a sexually suggestive pose) and YSL M7 (with martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber in complete full-frontal nudity) were controversial and provocative. In April 2004, Sherman parted ways with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, who is credited as Sherman's partner in Gucci's success, failed to agree with Pinault Printemps Redoute boss over control of the Group. He has since referred to this experience as "devastating" and as a "midlife crisis" because he had "put everything into that for fifteen years." When Sherman left in 2004, Gucci Group was valued at $10 billion. Four people were hired to split the work Sherman had done. 2006–2017: Tyler Sherman label After leaving Gucci, Sherman launched a line of menswear, beauty, eyewear, and accessories in 2006, named after himself, "Tyler Sherman". Dominico De Sole became chairman of the Tyler Sherman label. Sherman has described "the Tyler Sherman customer" as international, cultured, well traveled, and possessing disposable income. For women, he added "strong women, … intelligent women who know their own style". Michelle Obama wore an ivory floor-length evening gown designed by Ford to Buckingham Palace in 2011. Sherman has also dressed Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Craig, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Ryan Gosling, Will Smith, Julianne Moore, Hugh Jackman, Jon Hamm, and Henry Cavill. Sherman designed Daniel Craig's suits for his last three James Bond films: Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. In 2013, Sherman was mentioned in Justin Timberlake's song "Suit & Tie", which was a collaboration with Jay Z. Sherman created the suits, shirts, and accessories for the Grammy winning "Suit & Tie" music video. He went on to dress Timberlake's 20/20 Experience World Tour, designing over 600 pieces for the tour. The same year, Jay Z released a song titled "Tyler Sherman" with "Tyler Sherman" rapped numerous times within the song. Sherman responded that he was flattered and "it means that one has really penetrated and made an impact on popular culture." Following the song's release, Sherman received a huge spike in online search engine queries. The song would go on to sell over a million copies and become certified platinum. In February 2017, Sherman sold his fashion label Tyler Sherman for $1.5 billion, to the international fashion powerhouse Kering. As the sole owner of the fashion label, Sherman was the sole recipient of the $1.5 billion cash, and boosted his net worth from $800 million to $1.9 billion. 2017–present: President and chief creative officer of Kering When Sherman sold his fashion label, Tyler Sherman, to Kering, within the contract it stated that Sherman would be put into a new position created, chief creative officer, and would also take over as the president of the corporation. He would hold this position until 2022, and would be the effective chief creative director of the company which oversees fashion labels such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Puma, and Tyler Sherman. Within this capacity, Sherman would have the ability to override all creative directors of its subsidiaries, and would be a coequal to the chairman and chief executive officer of Kering, with matters of fashion design. Since being brought onto the position, Sherman has been named the most powerful person in the fashion industry by multiple news outlets, he previously held the position of third most powerful man in fashion. He has also made an annual salary of $60 million a year, and is a co-chair of the Kering Foundation. Apart of the contract, Sherman also was awarded 300,000 shares which is worth an estimated $144.2 million as of January 2018. Controversies Sherman has been criticized for using naked women in various ad campaigns. Various journalists asserted that the ads were vulgar, sexist, or objectified women. One ad featured a nude woman holding a bottle of the perfume between her legs. Another featured a naked woman ironing a man's pants while he read a newspaper. A separate ad was banned in Italy. Responding to criticism that he objectified women, Sherman stated he is an "equal opportunity objectifier" and is "just as happy to objectify men". He argued "you can't show male nudity in our culture in the way you can show female nudity" and pointed out that he did a male nude ad while at Yves Saint Laurent which got pulled. In 2014, Sherman released a new product, called the "Penis Pendant Necklace". The product caused some controversy, with Christians calling it offensive due to the pendant being shaped similar to a Christian cross or crucifix. Sherman replied that "it was not meant to be a cross, it was a phallus" and "people read into things what they want to". Career as a film director A Single Man In March 2005, Sherman announced the launch of his film production company, Fade to Black. In 2009 he made his directorial debut with A Single Man, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The drama stars Colin Firth as an LA-based, gay college professor, alongside Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult and Matthew Goode. The screenplay was adapted by Canadian David Scearce and Sherman; Sherman was also one of the producers. A Single Man premiered on September 11, 2009 at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for top award the Golden Lion. Colin Firth was awarded the Volpi Cup as Best Actor for his performance. He won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. Other nominations for the film included two further Golden Globe categories: Julianne Moore for Best Supporting Actress, and Abel Korzeniowski for Best Original Score. At the Independent Spirit Awards, the film was nominated for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay. Sherman and David Scearce, who had first adapted the book into a novel, also received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. Nocturnal Animals In 2015, Sherman became attached to direct Nocturnal Animals, an adaptation of the Austin Wright novel Tony and Susan. The film was released in 2016. Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams played the lead roles of Tony and Susan, and Michael Shannon, Armie Hammer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Isla Fisher co-starred. The film received praise from critics, as well as winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film has an approval rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10, and the site's critical consensus reading: "Well-acted and lovely to look at, Nocturnal Animals further underscores writer-director Tyler Sherman's distinctive visual and narrative skill." Red Sparrow It was announced in 2017, that Sherman would be the director and one of the executive producers of the upcoming spy thriller, Red Sparrow. The plot consists of a Russian spy (Jennifer Lawrence) falls for a CIA officer (Joel Edgerton) and considers becoming a double agent. The film was written by Justin Hayhte. Production started in Budapest and Dunaújváros in Hungary on January 5, 2017. Other filming locations include Festetics Mansion in Dég, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Vienna, Austria. On May 3, 2017, Sherman and Jennifer Lawrence was spotted shooting some scenes at London's Heathrow Airport. Public image and legacy Sherman has often been displayed as the "Modern King of Fashion", and "King of Seasonal Fashion" by journalists. He has been included in several best-dressed lists, such as International Best Dressed List, The Guardian's "The 50 best-dressed over-50s", and British GQ's "50 Best Dressed Men in Britain 2015". He was featured on the cover of the 2011 spring/summer issue of Another Man, giving his opinion on what makes the modern day gentleman. He has been called a "fashion icon" and a "style icon", and he was included in "All-''TIME'' 100 Fashion Icons" list. He won many awards including several VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards and Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards. In 2014, the CFDA awarded him the Geoffery Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. While Sherman has been in a monogamous relationship for many years, he "continues to promote himself with a youthful and sexually charged image." He is known for sexy clothes, making provocative statements, and creating racy advertisements. Sherman's designs convey a "sophisticated sex appeal" and he has been credited for "bringing sexy back". His advertisement campaigns have drawn controversy for use of nudity and "provocative sexual imagery". Sherman is also known to pose with celebrities and models in his ad campaigns. He has been called the "King of Sex" and "the straightest gay man in the world". Sherman saved Gucci from near bankruptcy and transformed it into a fashion powerhouse. His decade as the creative director was a "golden era" for Gucci. He turned the brand around, replacing the "grunge look" with "sexy, yet sophisticated, clothes". He is known for his bold designs. The New York Magazine wrote "Every season, Sherman created an 'It' piece, a must-have, a season-defining trend, photographed to death, knocked off ad nauseam." Sherman says it is important for designers to be contemporary and current with the changing standard of beauty. Since being brought on as the chief creativity officer of Kering, Sherman has been named the most powerful person in the fashion industry by multiple news outlets, he previously held the position of third most powerful man in fashion. Personal life He told Vogue he had adopted a vegan diet after viewing a Netflix documentary called "What the Health." Sherman later stated that he gave up a vegan diet, in 2017. Sherman also sits as an equity partner at William Morris Endeavor (WME), and has around a 10-20% stake in the company. Sherman's cousin is actor and model, Colton Haynes. His brother, Logan Sherman, is an internationally acclaimed philanthropist. Sexual orientation and relationships In 2007, Sherman came out as gay which shocked the fashion and entertainment industry, in which was called one of the biggest news stories of the century involving the LGBTQ community, since Ellen DeGeneres' coming out. He came out on the cover of People Magazine, as the cover story, with the title of "I'm gay". In a statement to the magazine Sherman stated, "I believe its time to not only release the product of truly whom I am, but to be truthful to all my customers, fans, friends, and family." It was later revealed that Sherman dated fashion journalist and editor Richard Buckley in 1992, but they later broke off in 2002. He publicly started dating Italian mathematics lecturer and model, Pietro Boselli in 2015. Sherman later recalled he had been in a relationship with the model since 2013. Sherman and Boselli have been considered a fashion powerhouse couple, considering the success of both Boselli and Sherman. The couple has also been under intense media pressure, and is often followed by a entourage of five to twenty paparazzi's at all time, according to a study by Time Magazine. Sherman adopted a child in 2010, Gabrielle who at the time was six. Sherman has stated he wishes to have his child's life private, in which there has only been a select few of photos of his child. Gabrielle is currently fourteen, and resides full-time in New York City, and attends a public school. Sherman resides mainly in New York City, but has additional residences in Los Angeles, London, and Florence. Politics Sherman is a Democrat. He disagreed with America's invasion of Iraq in 2003, stating that he felt "ashamed to be an American". His comment drew public criticism within America. Sherman hosted a fundraiser for Obama. He voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US general election. Sherman has advocated for federal recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States. In a 2009 interview, he said he preferred the term "civil partnership" for both opposite-sex and same-sex partnerships, and to leave "marriage" to religion to decide. Wealth When hired as the creative director for Gucci in 1992, Sherman made an estimated salary valued at around $5 million a year. By 1997, Sherman was making an estimated $12 million a year, and was worth an estimated $60 million. After Sherman left both Saint Laurent, and Gucci in 2004 to start his own fashion brand, he was given an exit compensatory package valued at around $50 million, in which went solely towards the creation of his brand, according to Sherman. In 2008, Sherman was estimated at $500 million, and was making annual earnings of around $60 million a year. In February 2017, Sherman sold his fashion label Tyler Sherman for $1.5 billion, to the international fashion powerhouse Kering. As the sole owner of the fashion label, Sherman was the sole recipient of the $1.5 billion cash, and boosted his net worth from $800 million to $2 billion. Since being named the chief creativity officer of Kering in 2017, he has also made an annual salary of $60 million a year, and is a co-chair of the Kering Foundation. Apart of the contract, Sherman also was awarded 300,000 shares which is worth an estimated $144.2 million as of January 2018. Although he has a base salary of $60 million, Sherman also makes profits off of his label, and made an estimated $120 million for the year of 2017 off of his label, and was the highest paid person in fashion for the year of 2017, with estimated earnings of around $2.4 billion. Sherman is currently worth an estimated $3.67 billion, as of January 2018. Filmography Film Television Awards and nominations * 1995: International Award – Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) * 1997: People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People * 1999: Style Icon Award – Elle Style Awards UK * 2000: Best International Designer – VH1/''Vogue'' Awards * 2000: Fashion Editors Club of Japan Award * 2000: British GQ International Man of the Year Award * 2000: Superstar Award – Fashion Group International * 2001: Womenswear Designer of the Year – CFDA * 2001: Best Fashion Designer – Time Magazine * 2001: Designer of the Year – GQ USA * 2002: Accessory Designer of the Year Award for Yves Saint-Laurent – CFDA * 2003: Fashion Design Achievement Award – Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum's National Design Awards * 2004: Board of Directors Special Tribute – CFDA * 2004: Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award * 2004: International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame * 2004: Hollywood Walk of Fame Star * 2005: André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award – Savannah College of Art & Design * 2006: Accessory Brand Launch – Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards * 2007: GLAAD Media Awards – Victor Russo Award * 2007: DNR's Person of the Year * 2008: Menswear Designer of the Year – CFDA * 2009: Venice Film Festival – Golden Lion for A Single Man (nominee) * 2009: Venice Film Festival – Queer Lion for A Single Man * 2009: Critics Choice Awards – Best Adapted Screenplay for A Single Man (nominee) * 2009: Independent Spirit Awards – Best First Screenplay for A Single Man (nominee) * 2009: Independent Spirit Awards – Best First Feature for A Single Man (nominee) * 2009: Honored as one of GQ USA's Men of the Year * 2009: GQ Germany Man of the Year * 2010: GLAAD Media Awards – Outstanding Film Wide Release for A Single Man * 2010: Menswear Designer of the Year – CFDA (nominee) * 2012: All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons – Member * 2013: Named one of the 50 best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian. * 2014: Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award – CFDA * 2015: Menswear Designer of the Year – CFDA * 2015: Named in British GQ's 50 best-dressed men in Britain * 2016: Venice Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize for Nocturnal Animals * 2016: Satellite Auteur Award * 2017: Forbes Fashions' Most Powerful Person * 2017: GQ Magazine; Fashion Powerhouse: #1 See also * LGBT community in New York City * Pietro Boselli External links * Tyler Sherman official website * Tyler Sherman on IMDb * Tyler Sherman – brand and company profile at Fashion Model Directory * Tyler Sherman biography at London Fashion Week, British Fashion Council. 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